A cool, calculating customer? Sorry, Maureen, but Obama is a dyed-in-the-wool narcissist, concerned only with his own personal gratification, and don't expect principle to get in the way of his drive to pleasure himself.
After touching upon the affair with the assistant teacher, Dowd proceeds to describe the annoyance of Obama with his vice president, who, in a move uncoordinated with the West Wing, came out in favor of gay marriage, forcing Obama to release a similar declaration, but not in accordance with the timetable set for the president's announcement. Dowd declares, "His embrace of gay marriage was not a profile in courage," and further observes:
"In the end, Obama had to rip off the Band-Aid and take a stand, because if his campaign depends on painting Romney as a bundle of ambiguous beliefs, the first black president can’t be ambiguous himself on a civil rights issue."
However, Obama has not recognized gay marriage as a civil right. In a 2004 Illinois Senate debate, Obama stated that gay marriage is not a civil right (see: http://www.therightscoop.com/obama-in-2004-on-gay-marriage-marriage-is-not-a-civil-right/), and Obama has not abandoned this position, given that he continues to believes that the states should decide this issue on their own.
Courageous? No. Calculating? Yes. All intended to win re-election.
Dowd concludes:
"As Obama is reminded of what it feels like to generate excitement, what it feels like to lift the spirits of a demoralized country by using the bully pulpit, maybe he can start occasionally blurting out something he feels strongly about."
Sorry, Maureen, but Obama feels most strongly about . . . himself.
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